Thirty years ago; anthropologist Laurel Kendall did intensive fieldwork among South Korea’s (mostly female) shamans and their clients as a reflection of village women’s lives. In the intervening decades; South Korea experienced an unprecedented economic; social; political; and material transformation and Korean villages all but disappeared. And the shamans? Kendall attests that they not only persist but are very much a part of South Korean modernity.This enlightening and entertaining study of contemporary Korean shamanism makes the case for the dynamism of popular religious practice; the creativity of those we call shamans; and the necessity of writing about them in the present tense. Shamans thrive in South Korea’s high-rise cities; working with clients who are largely middle class and technologically sophisticated. Emphasizing the shaman’s work as open and mutable; Kendall describes how gods and ancestors articulate the changing concerns of clients and how the ritual fame of these transactions has itself been transformed by urban sprawl; private cars; and zealous Christian proselytizing.For most of the last century Korean shamans were reviled as practitioners of antimodern superstition; today they are nostalgically celebrated icons of a vanished rural world. Such superstition and tradition occupy flip sides of modernity’s coin―the one by confuting; the other by obscuring; the beating heart of shamanic practice. Kendall offers a lively account of shamans; who once ministered to the domestic crises of farmers; as they address the anxieties of entrepreneurs whose dreams of wealth are matched by their omnipresent fears of ruin. Money and access to foreign goods provoke moral dilemmas about getting and spending; shamanic rituals express these through the longings of the dead and the playful antics of greedy gods; some of whom have acquired a taste for imported whiskey. No other book-length study captures the tension between contemporary South Korean life and the contemporary South Korean shamans’ work. Kendall’s familiarity with the country and long association with her subjects permit nuanced comparisons between a 1970s "then" and recent encounters―some with the same shamans and clients―as South Korea moved through the 1990s; endured the Asian Financial Crisis; and entered the new millennium. She approaches her subject through multiple anthropological lenses such that readers interested in religion; ritual performance; healing; gender; landscape; material culture; modernity; and consumption will find much of interest here.
#3527426 in Books Univ of Hawaii Pr 1996-09Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.75 x 8.75 x 1.00l; #File Name: 0824817206341 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A Detailed Interpretation of Angkor WatBy Michael GuntherEleanor Mannikka's grand idea is that the symbolism of Angkor Wat can be understood by interpreting the most significant measurements on the temple as references to Cambodian astronomical; calendrical; and religious concepts. Thus; for example; she identifies some distances; on the entrance bridge and outer enclosure; as referring to the Four Ages (yugas) of Hindu cosmology. The Churning of the Sea of Milk; at the Western Entrance; symbolizes the annual orbital oscillations of the sun and moon between summer and winter solstices. The third enclosure records; in its dimensions; some important events of Suryavarman's reign; and indicates that the king was symbolically bringing a new "golden age" to mankind. The upper levels of the temple represent Mt. Meru; the home of the gods and especially of Vishnu; who is the supreme deity in this temple. The measurements in this part of the temple include a mandala of the gods with lunar and solar astronomical cycles.In addition to its architectural symbolism; the temple's measurements also provide a great deal of information about the third gallery reliefs; and even help identify which gods would be represented by the (now absent!) statues that were set up in various locations in the temple.Mannika's book will be accessible to most interested readers; especially now that it has been issued in softcover. While the book does contain (necessarily!) a lot of long and involved calculations; it is possible for the reader to skip over the numerical details and still get a good sense of the author's interpretations and conclusions.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Insightful; scholarly; unorthodox; well written.By AreteThis brilliant book looks at the organization of Angkor Wat; as well as the other monuments of the Khymer civilization in terms of mathematics; geography; and distance measurements. Extensive tables; and references to earlier French works. A valuable guide to anyone planning a study or tour of ancient Angkor. I took mine along and retraced the old French tours. Highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in archaeology; Angkor; or astronomical alignments of monuments.14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Narrowly focused but compelling analysis of the great templeBy HodgeBased on a University of Michigan doctoral dissertation; this book provides an astonomical/numerological interpretation of the awe-inspiring temple of Angkor Wat. I would love to have it with me at the temple on an equinox or solstice (though it is a little heavy to carry; and Cambodia is always hot). It has splendid photographs and architectural drawings and makes a convincing case that components of the temple were aligned with the sun and based on measurements and iterations of the sacred numbers of 32 and 12.Mannikka has interesting things to say about the cult of the devarâja (usually translated as god-king); Sûryavarman II in particular (she believes that the unit of measurement for the temple was the distance between his elbow and outstretched fingertip: 43545 m.The book is essential for those interested in the architecture. Although well-written; it is dauntingly technical.
